Naked mole rats and the anti-oxidant myth

By David Stipp at 10:16 am Tuesday, Jun 8 • Comments • Share

If the more than $3 billion of antioxidant supplements sold each year is any indication, you probably have bottles of vitamins C, E, A, and selenium pills sitting on a shelf somewhere, and I wouldn't put it past you to have stashed away some grape seeds and pomegranate extracts while chomping on your blueberry chewing gum. Antioxidant-rich products like these are the most tried and true youth preservatives, according to those who sell them. The vendors can cite decades of supporting research on the free radical theory of aging, which suggests that ubiquitous molecular fiends known as oxygen free radicals constantly threaten to rust out our cells. The theory's bottom line is that our best hope to counter creeping body rot is to pop lots of radical-neutralizing antioxidants. 


It's a tribute to the power of advertising that so many people still buy this by the billions of dollars. Truth be told, in recent years it has been discredited by a thick sheaf of studies, from shocking clinical results with antioxidant vitamins to flabbergasting findings about a bizarre little rodent called the naked mole-rat. And it's now quite clear that the antioxidant myth may be hazardous to your health. 


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